Various questions about moving to Buenos Aires

kedwamo

Member

Member since 20 July 2009

Oklahoma City

kedwamo

20 July 2009 03:47:52

1 post

kedwamo

20 July 2009 03:47:52

#1

1 post

Oklahoma City

Hello all --

My partner and I are thinking about moving to Buenos Aires. We're both in our 30s, and are desperately ready to do something drastically different with our lives. We've researched some places in Central and South America, and Buenos Aires sounds terrific.

Our questions:

1. How much money (in USD) would we need to survive for a few months or so? We'd probably hit the ground running looking for work once we get there, but I think it would be very wise to have a nest egg. The only question is: How big would that nest egg need to be?

2. How is the economy in Argentina? Right now, we're living in Oklahoma, a state that hasn't been affected as much by the economic slowdown, thanks to the oil industry. But still, the job market isn't great. I myself just finished a college degree, only to end up working in a cell phone store for the kind of wages I could have made without a degree! Frankly, if I'm going to waste my degree working a tedious little job, then I'd prefer to do that tedious little job in a beautiful and exciting world-class city, as opposed to Oklahoma City, which really isn't all that nice.

3. The visa issue. Could anyone provide some clear information about this, or at least link to a page with some straight-forward information? (It seems as if I've come across a great deal of conflicting information.) I read something about some visa-holders taking ferry rides to Uruguay every three months in order to get around certain requirements. Is this even legal? Is the citizenship process as difficult as I've read in some other sources? More than likely, neither of us will have jobs when we get there, although my partner works for a very well-known Seattle-based coffee chain that does in fact have stores in B.A. (But he doesn't know if he'd be able to have his company sponsor him.)

Like I said, we're getting to a point in our lives where we realize that we just aren't getting any younger, and we both feel that the world is just way too big to stay in one place forever. The time is now for us to make the move of our dreams. Any advice whatsover would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, and sorry for the long post!

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WynnWoods

Serial expat

Member since 07 June 2009

Capital Federal

WynnWoods

04 August 2009 19:29:33

213 posts

WynnWoods

04 August 2009 19:29:33

#2

213 posts

Capital Federal

Hello, and welcome to the idea of moving to Buenos Aires. I actually lived in Oklahoma for a while many moons ago.

To answer your questions:

1. It is hard to tell someone how much money it might take to live here. There are way too many lifestyle factors to consider. Roughly speaking apartments range from about USD 400 to USD 500 for a furnished studio with all bills paid to USD 800 to USD 1400 for a two bedroom. Of course, you can spend in the thousands for an apartment depending on the amenities you require.

You can live for a couple of hundred dollars a month for the two of you for meals, depending on whether you enjoy preparing food at home. A steak dinner and a bottle of wine range from about USD 15 to USD 40 depending on neighborhood, quality, etc.

2. The economy continues to sink here, as it is globally. By next year the country will have likely exhausted their foreign reserves and due to their recent sovereign default, loans from organizations such as the IMF are out of the question. False reporting of inflation, etc. also factor into this equation. Last year the country borrowed a few billion from Chavez of Venezuela but ended up paying about 15% interest. This year those kinds of loans seem out of reach as Venezuela is experiencing their own crisis due to the collapse of the price of oil.

Prices are raising nearly every day here and over the course of the 2 1/2 years I would estimate my overall cost of living has increased around 30 to 34%. My electric bill (a bi-monthly bill) was once about USD 12 now it is around USD 40.

3. Visas are difficult to obtain as is residency as much due to an archaic system and routine incompetency than anything else. I personally believe that they are concerned about the volume of people from the USA moving here due to our economy and they are making it harder to get paperwork through here. Recently people from the USA reached the level of the 5th largest group of immigrants here.

As to going to Uruguay, you are not talking about a visa issue. Visas require documentation, an interview, etc. If you come here merely on a passport it is stamped for 90 days. You then have to either go to immigration and pay a fee for another 90 day extension or go to Uruguay. There is currently no limitation on the number of times you can do this, but you can only go to immigrations every other time.

There is other information there including a downloadable city guide, the official one published by the City of Buenos Aires, which is in English.

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saitam

New member

Member since 24 January 2010

Buenos Aires

saitam

24 January 2010 07:36:47

8 posts

saitam

24 January 2010 07:36:47

#3

8 posts

Buenos Aires

Hi! I would like to share my opinion about Argentina's economy. I have lived in Argentina for 21 years and I must say that this is a very unstable nation. Nearly once every five or ten years we suffer an economic crisis. We are currently recovering from the last one that was a direct consequence of USA's recession and the previous one we had from that one was in 2001/2002, which was a local crisis in this case. I think you should know that Argentina is always VERY affected by what happens outside the country, economically speaking, and is also subject to local economic crisis every once in a while. I think Argentina would be a good place for you to live for the next 2 to 4 years but probably we will be facing a new crisis after that. We are currently "enjoying", if you will, the consequence of devaluation given that we are currently very cheap for other nations and therefore we receive tourists and many corporations are doing business in Argentina with shared services centers that employ many educated argentinians. I'm not sure what professions you and your husband have, but depending on that you'll have a hard time or not when trying to get a job. I hope this helps. You can hit me back if you want, I would be glad to tell you all I know about Argentina.

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chaz

Member

Member since 19 December 2009

buenos aires

chaz

25 January 2010 13:06:38

15 posts

chaz

25 January 2010 13:06:38

#4

15 posts

buenos aires

Hia

Good luck with yr new ideas.

I have been here off and on for 6 years and came in my 30s as I needed a shake up. Which I got.

My girlfriend is Argentine ....Guadalupe Gomez so you could send her some questions as she really knows the answers.

Id say work is very hard here, low low salaries and you are up against native speakers.....unless you have great qualifications or will be paid in Dollars it is, say, impossible.

I have temporary residence that I hope to turn into full residency in April. I needed to prove I had income from renting property abroad.

Its been hard work and its frightening going down to immigration. However not impossible.

Could you come for a while and see how you felt first?

Looking back i would recommend somewhere else.

Its great to come on holiday to BA but to live I am not so sure. To live out in the country could be a good simple life...

So Im abit confused myself. If you have any more questions I could ask Guada. I am renting my flat out as well its in the adds....but I think you may not be in time for that

Suerte

Chaz

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martinfand

Member

Member since 18 April 2010

buenos aires

martinfand

20 April 2010 03:39:31

11 posts

martinfand

20 April 2010 03:39:31

#5

11 posts

buenos aires

kedwamo :

3. The visa issue. Could anyone provide some clear information about this, or at least link to a page with some straight-forward information? (It seems as if I've come across a great deal of conflicting information.) I read something about some visa-holders taking ferry rides to Uruguay every three months in order to get around certain requirements. Is this even legal? Is the citizenship process as difficult as I've read in some other sources? More than likely, neither of us will have jobs when we get there, although my partner works for a very well-known Seattle-based coffee chain that does in fact have stores in B.A. (But he doesn't know if he'd be able to have his company sponsor him.)

You can find information regarding visas here: How to enter and stay in ArgentinaWhat you've heard about the ferry to Uruguay is for people living here on a tourist visa, which has to be renewed every 3 months. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding your visas.

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Dave9876

New member

Member since 26 June 2014

Seattle

Dave9876

29 June 2014 03:18:53

7 posts

Dave9876

29 June 2014 03:18:53

#6

7 posts

Seattle

What does an American need to do to obtain Argentine citizenship?Is there a retirement visa program? Or investor program?Thank you! Dave

On the right hand side of the page is a drop-down box headed Visas/Immigration and you may read about the various categories of entry and residency

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Ayman Zaid

Active member

Member since 24 October 2012

Buenos Aires

Ayman Zaid

29 June 2014 17:53:39

49 posts

Ayman Zaid

29 June 2014 17:53:39

#8

49 posts

Buenos Aires

Hey, strongly recommend to you to have a visit for may be a week, then to decide.I`ll speak here about the capital. I assume you have read about the dollar prices, so here I am calculating for you in dollars.

1. Costs: for a small apartment furnished and you will pay the invoices and the expenses, this may start from $450. Surely you should know that the search is difficult, agencies do take a commission equal to 2 months payments, plus a guarantee for the owner of 1 or 2 months. Also the majority of the owners do ask for a certain guarantee which is literally an official document for another house, and they prefer it to be in the capital. I know it is not logical but that was what i faced. Living costs are the nearly the same amount. As always good things (places and services, etc) are in much higher prices. All of this you can understand and see in a visit. As for a foreigner, people will see you as a walking dollar, sometimes it is difficult dealing with such an attitude.2. Work is very very difficult, salaries are weak / average. Costs are increasing continuously, and remember you shall be able to speak Spanish fluently. Few use English here. For me personally this is the major problem here.3. The visa issue is not difficult if you have a regular contract as an employee for example. But when talking about asking for the id card and doing your papers in the immigration this means long months of waiting and waiting, to get a temporary card, and to repeat this twice again later. That`s why people use a tourists` visa and renew it by going to Uruguay and getting back. This is legal but costly.

I recommended you again if you very interested in here to have a visit at first, things are not easy, so you need to love the place to make your decision. And find a contract with a company before coming, and let them do all those papers and stuff, visa finding a house and all.Good luck and feel free to contract me for any further need.

Ayman

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cccmedia

Ecuador Expert

Member since 14 March 2014

Coffee Zone and Medellín

cccmedia

06 October 2015 10:07:14

5482 posts

cccmedia

06 October 2015 10:07:14

#9

5482 posts

Coffee Zone and Medellín

Following some recent online visits to the B.A. forum, I have posted the top ten things I've learned here, at an Expat Café thread (Report #1) ....

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